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Nov. 25, 2025 22:53-23:45 - CSPAN

51:57

Washington Journal Frank Luntz

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frank luntz

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mimi geerges

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mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back to Washington Journal.
		We're joined now by pollster and communications strategist Frank Luntz to talk about the mood of the nation.
		Frank, welcome to the program.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		And the mood's pretty bad.
		I've been listening to the calls before I sat down here, and that's why I do what I do at West Point.
		It restores, and we were talking before that I was going to bring this up at the beginning.
		For me, the savior, the reason to get up in the morning, even though we're so angry with each other and so hostile with each other, is these cadets up in Highland Falls, New York.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Well, let me show you a poll from Real Clear Polling about the direction of the country.
		And this is a poll average.
		The percentage that said that the country's on the right track is at 36%.
		The wrong track, 59%.
		What do you make of that?
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		We've been negative.
		We've been hostile to current conditions.
		We want change.
		And whether it's a Democratic administration or a Republican administration, the demand is keep your promises.
		Say what you mean and mean what you say.
		And what's going on in Washington is driving this negativity.
		And at some point, the country breaks.
		What does that look like?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		The country breaking?
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		That is a really good question.
		People stop listening.
		They stop caring.
		They turn inward.
		They reject what they hear, what they learn, what they read.
		They reject the news.
		They reject information.
		It's not a violent response because we're not violent people.
		We've had assassinations, but that's not who we are.
unidentified		That's not our character.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		But the opposite of love isn't hate.
		It's indifference.
		And when you give up on democracy, you stop voting.
		You stop participating.
		You stop donating.
		You stop engaging.
		And we are coming closer and closer to that.
		Where too many Democrats believe that Republicans are evil, and too many Republicans believe Democrats are stupid.
		And between the two of them, this rejection of learning, of education, of growing, is destroying the fabric that keeps us together.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		In a recent interview with NewsNation, you said that President Trump had until Labor Day of 2026 to turn things around.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		What is that based on and what does that look like?
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		I've been doing this now for 35 years.
		I'm old, as viewers can see.
		And I followed that there are certain moods that happen at certain times.
		When people go shopping this week to buy the food for Thanksgiving, if prices are up and people can't get what they want, they're going to be mad as hell.
		And that's what happened to Joe Biden five years ago.
		He doesn't realize that the seeds of his destruction were sown on Thanksgiving of 2021 when people could not afford the food they were looking for and how much worse it got by 2022.
		And then on Christmas, the purchasing of gifts, of presents, if you can't get what you want to buy, if there are shortages, if things aren't available, people punish those in charge.
		And so these days are critical.
		In terms of Labor Day, that's when people get together and host their final summer party.
		And they talk to each other about where things are, about the year starting up again.
		And if prices aren't down by then, he'll get punished.
		But he still has almost a year to make a difference.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So what's your recommendation then to President Trump?
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Don't oversell.
		It's very simple.
		There are things that you've done that are significant, accomplishments that are meaningful and measurable.
		But don't overpromise.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		But isn't that in President Trump's nature?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		I mean, that's who he is.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Right, but you ask.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		He promises big, right?
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Yes, and sometimes he delivers, and sometimes he doesn't.
		And the key in all of this is to maintain your credibility, maintain believability.
		Trump voters have more patience than any people I've ever seen.
		I've been doing this now since the end of the Reagan administration.
		Trump voters are more loyal, more committed, more willing to accept disappointment as long as they see a light at the end of the tunnel.
		And that tunnel goes from now until Labor Day of 2026.
		You have the time, you have the resources, you have the support of Congress.
		If you over-deliver, if you under-promise and over-deliver, they'll reward you.
		If you over-promise and under-deliver, they'll punish you.
		And we have history, 50 years of history, that says the Democrats should be winning the House.
		That the voters punish the party in power after two years.
		And he's got to overcome that.
		And at this point, I don't think he does.
		At this point, when you look at the Texas redistricting being thrown out, California redistricting passing, and then historic trends, it's really hard for Republicans to keep control.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		I want to ask you about the recent video by Democratic lawmakers urging troops to not obey illegal orders.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		First, what was your reaction to that and if you saw any reaction among the cadets at West Point that you work with?
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Well, that's politics, and West Point does not do politics, does not do partisanship.
		My first reaction was, why the hell did you put this video out?
		I know you're trying to poke at him.
		Of course you don't obey an illegal order.
		Of course there are standards and processes that our military has followed, not just for decades, but for centuries.
		That's a given.
		You're doing this just to create a political issue.
		And shame on you, because there are men and women who are serving in Japan, in Korea, all over the globe, in the Middle East, in other Asian countries.
		And this is Thanksgiving.
		And they're not home.
		And they're sacrificing for this country.
		And you're playing politics at this point?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		We're going to talk about Thanksgiving, but the reaction from the Pentagon was to investigate Senator Mark Kelly, a 25-year veteran of the Navy, by bringing him back, reactivating him so that he could be court-martialed pending the investigation, of course.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Why are we doing this?
		Just stop.
		There's a word that I've used now, and I've been studying this to try to figure out what that language is.
		And it's very simple.
		One word.
		Enough.
		All caps.
		Exclamation points.
		Enough.
		Enough of the commentary.
		Enough of the divisiveness.
		The military is not a political organization.
		It's not a mouthpiece and should not be dragged into politics.
		Stop doing this.
		And it's happening on both sides.
		You got to cut it out because that, you asked me at the beginning of this, what is a breaking point?
		That's a breaking point.
		Thank God the generals and the admirals and the people who serve us don't play politics.
		Thank God they keep quiet.
		That's what's different between this.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Many of those admirals and generals have been purged by this administration, by this Pentagon.
		Are you concerned about that and that the new people coming in?
		We had a caller say, look, the new people are not loyal to the Constitution.
		They're loyal to President Trump.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		That caller doesn't know.
		And one of the things I've learned is humility to acknowledge what I don't know.
		We have to assume that they're being chosen because of their capability.
		This is what concerns me.
		For my lifetime, and it's been a long one now, there's never been any hint.
		Generals will talk after their service, but there's never been any politization.
		And no one, and that is a capital N, capital O, no one should bring politics into the military because that is our last best line of defense.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		If you'd like to talk to Frank Lunt, he is with us for a little over half an hour.
		You can go ahead and start calling in now.
		The lines are biparty.
		Democrats are on 202-748-8000.
		Republicans 202-748-8001.
		And Independents 202-748-8002.
		We also have a line set aside for former and active and former military.
		If you'd like to call us, we'd love to hear from you.
		That line is 202-748-8003.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		That is great.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		How long have you been doing that for?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		For a while.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		That is wonderful.
		And I hope that the producers back there, wherever back there is, will include them.
		Because even though they're stationed someplace else, or even though they're retired, I want to know what they think.
		I'm listening to them.
		I'm learning from them.
		And I will tell you that with Thanksgiving 48 hours away, that's where my heart is.
		That's where my head is.
		We need to hear from them, and we need to express our appreciation, our respect, and how much we value them.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, well, let's hear from them.
		So you are a senior fellow in the Department of Social Sciences at West Point, and you spoke to some of the cadets about their gratitude.
		I'm going to play it, and then you can talk about it.
unidentified		Thank you.
		I would just say I'm filled with a great sense of gratitude.
		This country has given me so much, and I'm eager to give back.
		This country is my everything.
		This country gave me life, and this country continues to give me life.
		And I'd like to quickly brief on duty, honor, country.
		Duty, honor, country is the what, how, and why of West One.
		So the what is your duty.
		You're going to get the job done in front of you.
		The how is honor.
		You're going to honor your country in the process and country is what you're doing it for.
		To me, the United States is my home and it's the banner of freedom for the rest of the world.
		Yeah.
		I think, Dr. Lens, our generation is positive when we think about the future of our country.
		And so in a sentence, I would just say it's a beacon of hope for the future for us.
		I know that sounds a little cliche, but I mean, listening to my peers up here talk about the country so passionately in the way that I do is reassuring.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		They're hopeful and they're optimistic, much more so than I am.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		What's giving them that optimism?
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Because they've learned about the importance of selfless service.
		They've learned and embraced sacrifice.
		These people are looking around all the time, 24-7, who can I help?
		And it's not just out of the military aspect, it's who they become in their lives.
		West Point teaches leadership with character.
		You heard that young man, Miles Manny, he's the president of the senior class.
		He talked about duty, honor, and country.
		It's who they become.
		It's what they're about, and it's hard to explain.
		And I'm appreciative that you use their voices because each one has a definition.
		It's almost the same.
		And all of it includes selfless service to each other, to the community, and to the country.
		And they don't care whether you have an R or D after your name.
		They care that this country is strong and successful and focused on the future.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		How do we get those principles outside of the military?
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		So my question is.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Self-sacrifice, service.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		How do we find these people?
		I get to be around them every day.
		And I'm usually the worst person in the room when I'm teaching them.
		Where do we find them?
		And we still do in the communities that are represented by your callers.
		They still exist.
		And I think that we need to do more to celebrate them and to realize that we are who we are because they are who they are.
		I acknowledge it.
		I love West Point.
		I know we have a couple more segments at some point.
		I hope we go to them.
		Because you'll hear and you'll actually get to see what that sacrifice is about.
		Right now, you and I are in a warm studio here in Washington, D.C.
		And right now they're already up and they're already marching or hiking or rucking or being trained to be warriors.
		And that's essential.
		But so is character.
		To do the right thing for the right reasons, regardless or not of whether anyone's watching.
		I believe that part of our problem right now is that we don't celebrate and insist on integrity.
		That we allow people to get away with things that we never would have 50 years ago.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		What happened?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Why are we allowing people to get away with lack of integrity?
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		So I have an answer for this.
		First is education.
		Our education system is not teaching young people what they need to know for college or career and real life.
		It's not demanding more from them.
		It's not taking them through these ethical challenges.
		And go back to West Point.
		Every class is a class in character.
		Every class is a class in ethics.
		And so it becomes part of you.
		It's who you are.
		And the second thing is social media, which is awful.
		And I keep, and I get, I'm going to tell you something where I get criticized.
		I'm saying this to moms because dads won't do it.
		But moms will.
		Take away that phone from your child.
		Tell them you're not going on social media until you're 16 years old.
		And I don't care how much, I don't care where your friends are on it.
		I don't care how much they complain.
		Take the damn phone away.
		Sit down at dinner.
		Talk to me.
		Tell me about your day.
		Tell me about your school.
		Tell me about your friends.
		Tell me about your life.
		Look me straight in the eye.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		But mostly the problem with, at least from our perspective with social media, is the adults.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		It's not the kids.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		But the kids are still learning the bad behaviors.
		They're still seeing and reading and engaging in what's teaching them how not to behave.
		And then the third thing are the adults themselves, because our politicians are so mean and cruel and vicious to each other.
		Kids see this.
		They act it out.
		And we tolerate it.
		You fix our education system, social media, and political discourse, and we will raise integrity in this country almost immediately.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Well, we're trying to do the political discourse here on this program, so let's talk to callers.
		And this is Ken, North Carolina, Independent Line.
		Go ahead, Ken, you're on with Franklin's.
unidentified		Good morning, C-SPAN, and good morning, America.
		Mr. Lutz, I've watched you for years.
		You've always tried so hard for this country to listen, to behave, and you are such a credit.
		I have just two points I would like to ask.
		Number one, redistricting in the U.S. has got to be out of control.
		What's your thought about that?
		And number two, what's going on in Ukraine?
		You being a military man, you know how Europe was attacked in the 1930s when there was a man who promised he would not invade, and he went from country to country.
		They even bombed Europe.
		They even bombed England.
		And they also put many Jews in concentration camp.
		And we all know who we're talking about.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Ken.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		So first thing, if I can reach down and not pull out my wires, I don't just wear my country on my sleeve.
		I wear my country on my feet.
		And I'm proud to do this.
		And I didn't do this before.
		These are old.
		I've had these for 15 years.
		I stopped doing this until two years ago.
		And I restored my patriotism.
		I restored my love for country.
		And it really is back.
		In terms of redistricting the caller, you are so right.
		It's wrong for us to be changing the rules and changing the borders.
		Nothing will destroy our faith and trust and confidence in the electoral system like changing the boundaries.
		That's setting us up for a disaster.
		And I wish both parties would stop, but they're not, because now it's a war to the bottom.
		And at this point, with Texas, with their alliance having been rejected by the courts, now you have that decision stayed temporarily by a Supreme Court justice.
		But if Texas ends up rejecting redistricting in California and its vote is uphold by the courts, I don't see how Republicans keep control.
		So this strategy could actually hand the election to the Democrats, stop playing games of our electoral system.
		And in terms of Ukraine, I'm Ukrainian.
		My grandparents on one side and my great-grandparents on the other, all four.
		Odessa and Keith, who I used to call it Kiev.
		And so I have a personal stake in this.
		And I say this only as a citizen.
		And I'm not a military person.
		I appreciate I never served.
		And I think that's one of the reasons I'm guilty.
		And I see them out in the cold and out in the rain and out in the snow and doing 18-mile hiking with 35 pounds on their backs.
		And I never did that.
		And I'm lucky.
		I know you're going to the phone.
		I hope the U.S. stays behind Ukraine.
		I hope that we continue to stand up for freedom and we stand against countries that invade others without any motivation, without any provocation.
		What's the word?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		That's right.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Provocation.
		I got it.
		I want us to be aligned with the country who was attacked, not the attacker.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		In Red Wing, Minnesota, on the line for Democrats.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		John, you're on the air.
unidentified		Yes, thank you very much.
		Early on, you were talking about politicizing the military.
		And those people giving those statements about unlawful orders, that's not politicizing the military.
		I spent over 30 years in the military.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Thank you.
unidentified		I've had that talk dozens of times.
		I know exactly what they're talking about.
		And they're just re-emphasizing you do not follow illegal orders.
		And I want to remind you of this Abel Grave when young people there thought they were taking orders from civilians, FBI agents, and people from the Defense Department from the Pentagon.
		Who went to jail?
		Whose careers were ruined?
		It was these young people, these young soldiers, a young pregnant woman.
		They went to jail, not the people that encouraged them to do it.
		And now you have people that are saying, oh, it's okay to have swastikas out in the military and show them.
		No, it's not okay.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		What do you think, Frank?
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		We agree.
		That's a given.
		But I know politics.
		I know why it was done.
		It was done to provoke the response that it got.
		And the response that it got, and the effort itself is the politicization.
		This Army is led by General Randy George, who has done more to upgrade and to innovate.
		And to, from appropriations to technology to warfighting itself, General George has done more to upgrade this Army than any Army leader for decades.
		He doesn't need to be reminded of this.
		It's wasting our time talking about something that they fully understand and fully embrace, and it just created this mess.
		How many hours has Ceaseman spent talking about this?
		Has it appeared in the newspaper?
		They understand this, they practice this.
		And I want to give credit also to Dan Driscoll, the Secretary of the Army.
		The combination of Randy George and Dan Driscoll has completely innovated.
		And we need to.
		What's been happening in Ukraine with the drones, with the new type of warfighting that we were not anticipating three years ago, and these two individuals working together daily, hourly, have made a meaningful difference.
		And you ask me, and I'll do it in one case, just in this case, to talk about the cadets.
		The cadets believe that General George and Secretary Driscoll have their backs.
		The cadets believe that the Army is preparing them for the battles of the future.
		And they have complete confidence that their leadership is on their side.
		And that's exactly what we need.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		One of the cadets that was on the screen was a woman.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		What are female cadets telling you about Secretary Hagseth and the general mood of women in combat?
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		They want to be held to the same standard.
		This is what the cadets, regardless of their gender, of their race, of where they come from, even first generation, they want to be held to the same standard, nothing more, nothing less.
		And they want to be able to do the same jobs, nothing more and nothing less.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Let's hear more from the cadets, and then I'll give you a chance to continue.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Thank you.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		What do you want the American people to know from you as West Point cadets?
unidentified		I believe the end product of the United States Military Academy is a leader who will promote democratic values in the American people and in the world, and that we train every day to be the best at that that we can, maybe.
		I'd want people to know that the work that we're doing here goes far beyond just our four years here and even beyond our time in the Army.
		The values that we learn, the values that we kind of take with us into our career is going to be with us past the Army and hopefully we can create a real positive impact in other sectors as well.
		We have so much hope for the future.
		I'm not signing up.
		None of us are signing up for a future we don't believe is going to be good.
		We have so much hope.
		We believe we can build a better future.
		It won't just happen.
		That we will be part of the solution.
		And that despite politics or division, that we are one people and we will fight for the future we want to see.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		I teach that kid, that cadet, okay, I got through 25 minutes without getting emotional.
		I swore I would not do this.
		That's Ethan Harder.
		He's a yearling second year.
		And that optimism is held by other cadet, by almost every cadet, because they believe that they've got the power within them to make a difference.
		You empower someone and they will rise to the occasion.
		And the expectations, the standards for these West Point cadets is so darn high, I could not do it.
		I would have failed.
		I would have flunked out.
		Do you remember the film A Few Good Men?
		I would have been the guy.
		They put the pillow over my head and beat me to death with baseball bats.
		I admire, I cherish them because they're making me a better person.
		I hold the door for people.
		I say thank you very much.
		I look people straight in the eye because they all do this.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		You didn't do that before going to West Point?
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Not as much.
		And I observe it.
		And the thing that I want to say to every mother and father or every grandparent who's watching this, that when their child comes home for Thanksgiving, watch them.
		They sit up straighter.
		They look you straight in the eye.
		They say, yes, ma'am.
		Yes, sir.
		They get up and help you.
		They clean up their rooms.
		Everything they touch becomes better because of their training, who they are.
		I go on this.
		I go on the inspections and I see what they do with the uniforms and what they do with their rooms.
		Only perfection is allowed.
		And thank God we have 4,000 of them committed to perfection in whatever job they do.
		And one last point here.
		They're in demand now.
		The problem, and this is going to be a problem for the military, is that after five years, they have to commit to five years of hard service.
		And after that, every business wants to hire them because they have the ethics and the perseverance and the resilience.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And the leadership.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Exactly.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Randolph in Charles City, Virginia, Republican.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Randolph.
unidentified		Good morning, Crank.
		I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the quote and introduction to hundreds of school board and city council and board of supervisors meetings for the phrase, there is no more important issue than children's health.
		Now, you gave me that when I called into C-SPAN 22 years ago.
		And over these last 22 years, I have pulled a 50-foot mobile fitness trailer to 1,500 schools here in Virginia and many other host organizations that wanted to add a health component to their message.
		And I have had the good fortune of training many military families in Lincoln housing here in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia.
		And I've had to retire because of my own health circumstances, and it won't be too long before I graduate.
		But I really appreciate the opportunity to call in and thank you for that phrase.
		God bless you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		That was nice.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Yes, he made me emotional.
		Do you realize the impact, sir?
		And I hope you're still watching, the impact of saying something positive, of saying, of expressing appreciation.
		And the word that I'm trying to teach is gratitude.
		And I don't think I had enough of it 20 years ago or 10 years ago.
		It's amazing what's, and I understand your health challenges.
		Stroke five years ago, stroke a year ago.
		And you develop gratitude.
		Gratitude just for being around and the appreciation of those who step in and help you when you can't help yourself.
		And that's society at its best.
		The reason why America is so strong is not because of our military or because of our economy.
		It's because the character of our people.
		And that's why integrity is so important.
		If we allow that character to disintegrate, if we tolerate abusive behavior or mean rhetoric, that corrosiveness will bring our society down.
		And I'm trying to advocate.
		We didn't even do this.
		I was going to ask every Republican to say something nice about a Democrat and every Democrat to say something nice about a Republican.
		Please have me back around Christmas because maybe we can do it there.
		But imagine what that would do for the viewer to be required to look at something positive with your political opponent.
		I am trying to do that.
		I am trying to work towards a cleaner, safer, healthier America.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Daryl in Caldwell, Idaho, Independent Line, you're on the air.
unidentified		You know, basically, I'm 82 years old, so I couldn't consider being a president or going to West Point or anything.
		I've got to use a Rolo later just to go from A to B.
		But I was in the Marine Corps, and I've survived that.
		And it's a situation where I've started studying the scriptures.
		As you realize, you know, your lifespan here, when you're 60 years old, you've already spent 20 years sleeping.
		And we've got a situation now where the scripture says, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
		And then you've got a situation in the New Testament where Jesus is commenting the fact that you're going to go against an enemy and you've got 10,000 and the enemy's got 20,000.
		Jesus says you better take and walk out there with your delegation and you better make peace.
		And I look at this stuff going on in Ukraine and you've got a situation where Zelensky has reached the point that he's not going to surrender because he likes that power.
		His nation is as corrupt as could be, and yet we don't want to go to the fact that we've told the Russians back in 1991, we're not going to come one more inch towards it.
		So basically, we're a nation that is not afraid to lie, and we've got to pray.
		They're getting afraid to do it or the other ones.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Let's get a response.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		I attend the Jewish chapel, the Catholic Chapel, and the cadet chapel, Protestants.
		And I try to go a couple times a month, non-denominational.
		Most of the cadets have very deep faith, and I think you have to do what they're doing.
		But I see what it does for them.
		It makes them stronger.
		Makes them add to that ethical behavior that they're required to do.
		And this would be a really good time to do that last video that you have because it is training and it is lethality.
		And the warrior culture is essential in our young leaders.
		But so is ethical behavior.
		So is rising to a higher standard.
		And that's what the chapels teach.
		And the cadets go there and they hear the message.
		And I can say to everyone watching, they're not just great soldiers, they're great human beings.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, let's play that last portion that we've got for you.
unidentified		I'm unapologetically patriotic.
		And so when I'm sitting here and I'm going through these things, and I'm going through the moments of waking up at 2, 3, 4 in the morning and thinking, why am I doing this?
		All I have to tell myself is that someone out there across the globe is trying to hurt those that are important to me, trying to hurt the country I love, and I will not let them.
		And so that mindset stayed the entire DCLDT, and I can't ever imagine it'll go away.
		It's just embracing the opportunity.
		There's a leader in all of us, and being able to sit back, understand what is going on for the day, what you need from your subordinate leaders, and persevering through whatever challenges there are and utilizing those around you.
		That's the biggest thing.
		I think this teaches you teamwork.
		And it's gritty.
		It is gritty for sure, but it's gritty together.
		I think that's what matters here.
		Soon, all 32 of us are tired and hungry and hurting.
		But the reason I think that we are prepared and there's nothing that's going to stop us is because I know that no matter what I'm going through, I have 31 other people around me who I can count on to push me through, and that all 32 of us unanimously feel the same way.
		And so no matter how bad it gets, no matter how sorry we feel for ourselves, there's 31 other people who are willing to pick you up and drag you all the way to the end.
		And so I just really can't see a way in which we're not prepared.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Frank.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		That should give you confidence.
		That should give you that faith in the future.
		The leader of West Point, Steve Gillen, three-star general, did more for America in the Delta forces than almost anyone I've ever met in my life.
		And this man is the embodiment of service with character and sacrifice.
		And he will not discuss his past, even though I've been trying very hard.
		But he sets the tone for every cadet to follow.
		The commandant, R.J. Garcia, is a warrior.
		And he teaches them the importance of the training and the discipline and the resilience and perseverance.
		The dean, Shane Reeves, is the smartest dean I've ever seen.
		I am so glad that I left my previous jobs to teach because the academic commitment and the intensity of learning at West Point is unlike any place I've ever seen.
		And two other people, the BTO, Colonel Klepper, Klepp Burr, scared the hell out of me because he's looking, he's right now emailing me, your shirt is wrong, your jacket should be.
		He adds a level of discipline that I did not appreciate when I was first there.
		And now I realize that that's the secret sauce.
		And Colonel Fedorovich, who's in charge of military training and military teaching, five leaders of character, five leaders who do not accept anything but 100% perfection, produce 4,000 cadets who are committed to selfless service, who love their country, who are willing to do this 24-7 for all the right reasons and all the right ways.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Terry and Eugene, Oregon, Democrat, you're on the air.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Before I start, well, my name is Terry McComb, and I live in Eugene, Oregon.
		And I want to thank you, Mimi.
		I admire you.
		I think you do a superb job as a host.
		The way that you listen, you truly listen to people and you respond and you engage in a sincere way.
		And I'm very grateful for you.
		And I, yes.
		And I would just like to make a comment to Frank.
		You're not my guy.
		I find you a little too dramatic for me, but I do want to say one thing, push back against your state, your comments about the video that our congresspeople, the Democratic Six, put out to warn people that are serving in the military to not follow an illegal order.
		And let me tell you why.
		January 6th, the President, Donald J. Trump, called for an insurrection.
		They called for people to come and stop those, you know, the counting of the Okay, so and they almost they almost succeeded.
		And the first thing that Donald Trump does when he gets back into office is he forgives all of them.
		But they all paid a price for that, didn't they?
		They paid a price.
		President Trump didn't.
		But all of those people that followed him, the thousands of people that followed him to do this insurrection, they got busted and they got prison terms and they paid a price.
		That's all those six members were saying is you can't just, if the president was walking down the street and says, shoot those protesters in the legs, we had military people that said, you can't do that, sir.
		Okay.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Let's get our response.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Well, she's right.
		I am too dramatic.
		And I can't help it.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		What about her other point?
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		I understand the concern, and I hear it in the focus groups that I do.
		And I hope the people in Washington hear it.
		I hope they hear all of this.
		Because in the end, that tells them that there is this discontent.
		There is a feeling, a lack of trust in their leadership.
		And democracies are built on trust, built on credibility, and they're built on information.
		And if the public is only half informed or they only hear one side, that's the real problem.
		My greatest criticism right now in this country is that we get our information to affirm us rather than inform us.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		You think that there is a lack of trust in the military right now?
unidentified		No.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		I think there's a lack of trust in the country right now.
		And I want them to know, and this is what I bring with me to the table right here, that they should have faith and trust in the military and their leaders to do the right thing at the right time, for the right reasons, in the right way.
		That is not a line.
		It sounds, to use my cadet, it sounds hokey, but that's exactly what it is.
		You have to do the right thing.
		You have to know what's moral and ethical and what isn't.
		You have to do it for the right reasons, which is not just what's happening today.
		It's over the long term.
		You have to do it in the right way.
		So I have an issue sending Marines to Los Angeles because Marines have a process.
		They follow certain training.
		And I'd rather have them deployed outside the country than inside the country.
		And in the end, we will look and we will judge it based on the outcome, not just the effort.
		And these are questions that Americans have the right to raise, and that's why I appreciate the caller.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Diane in DeSoto, Kansas, Republican.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, Mimi and Mr. Lunz.
		I want to change the topic a little bit.
		I totally agree with you about your sentiments of the military for starters, but I want to talk about the economy.
		Something I've seen in my lifetime that I've never seen before is the breaking, what I consider the breaking of the middle class because of the expense of essentials, housing, insurance, power bills, electricity.
		It is hitting the middle class from the elderly people to the youngest people and everybody in between.
		And I don't know what's going to happen.
		How are people going to afford to live?
		What is the way out of this?
		I would just like your comment.
		And before I do go, I want to say, Frank Lunz, you look 20 years younger.
		I don't know what you're doing, but you're doing it right.
		Go ahead.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		It's because he's at West Point around so many young people.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Yes, who are running and jumping and hiking, and I'm sitting in the corner wishing that I could do this.
		That is my single greatest embarrassment.
		And I've been told, don't be embarrassed, and I am.
		Because if this were six years ago, I'd be jumping off the helicopter.
		I'd be climbing the mountains.
		I can't even clear my throat.
		I cannot even speak properly.
		The caller is correct.
		And there are four areas that are particularly important.
		Food and fuel, because if you can't put the food you want to put on the table, you feel like you're not successful.
		And if you cannot fill your car with gas all the way up to the top, you can't even do the things you want to do.
		Housing and health care, because if you can't live where you want to live and you're not healthy because of economics, that destroys trust and confidence in the free market system.
		And notice I do not say capitalism.
		In fact, for those, this is a learning lesson for you.
		Capitalism is about Wall Street.
		It's about billionaires.
		It's about people who've already made it.
		Economic freedom is about Main Street, about people working their way.
		And hardworking taxpayers deserve a break, and they're not getting it.
		The caller, your concern is exactly what will determine who wins in 2026.
		And right now, people are disappointed with where we are as a country.
		We know from the work we've been doing that the public is struggling to afford what they want to spend for Thanksgiving.
		And I know what's coming in a week as they start to shop for Christmas presents.
		People are not just struggling, they're suffering.
		And it's almost half of Americans feel that way right now.
		And it's going to get acute in the days to follow.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Let's talk to Jean in Detroit, Line for Democrats.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Gene.
unidentified		Hi, I just want to make a couple of comments and a couple of questions.
unidentified		I remember you, Frank, from years ago, but my interpretation was that you would give these talking points to Republicans and tell them what words to use to help them in getting across to the American people.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		That's correct.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		And that's something that I gave up maybe 10 years ago because I just.
unidentified		I thank you so much.
		I got mad at you about those things.
		It worked.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Because he was good at it.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Is that why?
unidentified		Because he was good at it.
unidentified		I said, these two, you know, that he was able to use those words to help people get fooled and to trust Republicans when they were, to me, they were not trustworthy because I looked at the different things that had happened from Republican policies, especially Newt Gingrich coming in and really to me being the father of the divisiveness that we have between the parties now because he came in demonizing Democrats.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Can I respond?
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		I'm going to answer your question, but can I respond to that?
unidentified		Sure.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Newt Gingrich is the smartest person I ever worked for.
		And we would talk for hours about policies, and it was never about communication for him.
		And you may disagree with the outcome.
		You may disagree with the motives, but I will tell you as someone who watched it, and I'll give you the example because we're approaching Christmas, when he discussed the benefits of orphanages versus foster homes.
		And I told him at the time, stop doing this.
		Yes, there are young people who live in orphanages, but the public thinks foster homes are so much better.
		And he said to me, I don't care.
		Foster homes is where there's a lot of violence.
		There's sexual predators, and orphanages are actually safer for the young people.
		And I said to him, You're going to get destroyed over this.
		And call her, he did.
		And there's so much of what he talked about.
		He was willing to engage in this public debate over policy, over theory, and over practice.
		And I know that there's some things that he said were very brittle and were negative, but I've never worked with someone before or since who had the mind that he had, and the goal was to make American society stronger.
		And I'm trying to remember the phrase that he had, but it was saving American civilization.
		He was truly committed to that.
		He may not have communicated it, but this was a guy who was dedicated to a better America.
		And I'm proud to have worked for him.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Gene, go ahead.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		You had another point.
unidentified		Yes, sir.
		Just two really quick points.
		For me, faith plays such a role in what has happened within our company, our country, rather.
		I think from the founding of this country, the Sabbath day was established up until the 1970s.
		And it's like greed took over.
		We began opening up stores, gas stations, everything in the pursuit of money.
		And it's a commandment of God that we honor the Sabbath day, which for Christians is on Sunday.
		So I want to ask you: what role do you think that played in the disintegration of our society?
		And the last question is about Chief Justice David Souter, who issued a warning in an NPR interview September of 2012, warning about such a man as Trump who took office.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Gene.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		Your comment about faith is so accurate.
		If you hold the Bible in one hand, you cannot hold a bottle of pills or a gun in the other.
		If you are going to church on Sunday, you cannot, or you probably won't be destructive the other six days of the week.
		And that if I had to add one thing to my answer to you about why things had so disintegrated, the thing that I left out is faith.
		And I realized this.
		I actually took Father Matt with my cadets to Washington, D.C. to discuss leadership with character with five senators and eight members of Congress in two days.
		Because faith is not just who we are, but faith is what we become.
		I'm not just interested in how we behave right now.
		My job as a pollster is to look to the future, to understand where we're headed, and frankly, if I think it's in the wrong direction, try to shift it, try to learn.
		And it's not about partisanship.
		It is about character.
		And so, Caller, I endorse everything that you just said.
		And the 1970s was the turning point.
		We took faith out of society.
		We took faith out of schools.
		What exactly is the damage of the Ten Commandments?
		I'm Jewish.
		I probably shouldn't admit that at this moment.
		I don't mind the Ten Commandments being taught.
		Those are values.
		Those are principles.
		Those are priorities.
		Honor your mother, honor your father and your mother.
		What is wrong with that?
		I want us to be a country of faith.
		I just want us to respect each faith and respect how we practice it.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Let's get one more call.
		This is retired military in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
		Robert, good morning.
		You're on the air.
unidentified		Good morning, sir.
		And I just wanted to tell you that I agree with everything you said.
		And I was proud to serve this country and lead these men and women for the 34 years I served from private to lieutenant colonel.
		And I trained these guys.
		And I told them about selfless service and giving back and being appreciative for our country.
		And I appreciate everything you said because it gives us faith about the future.
		Not just the present, the future.
		Let's make it better for those behind us.
		Been blessed, and I thank you for echoing those sentiments.
		And I had the opportunity just to tell you.
		Thank you.
		I appreciate you very much.
		Thank you.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		So I'm going to close this and try not to be emotional.
		Sir, bless you for your service.
		Damn it.
		Bless you for your service.
		Thank you for your sacrifice.
		It's worked.
		I want you to know, because I can hear it in your voice, you were successful.
		You train these people to uphold the principles and the values of America that make this country so great and that the next generation, there's something really special.
		I was at Normandy for the 80th anniversary.
		My cadets had, I sat in front of them because I was just bawling the entire time.
		And a Navy person, I'm going to say something nice about the Navy only once.
		She gets up and she talks about being on the line and that we can now turn to the next generation.
unidentified		That's sure.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		You can stand down because you succeeded on live television.
unidentified		This is what happened.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		It was so beautiful because the greatest generation has passed the values and the priorities and the right behavior.
		And we're now ready to take charge.
		Bless you for your service.
unidentified		Bless you for your sacrifice.
frank luntz ▲ ● ▼		And we're going to be there for you.
		That is West Point.
		That is the caller from North Carolina.
		And that is our country.
		I'm so grateful to be here.
		I'm so thankful to you and to C-SPAN and to every caller, whether or not you agreed or not, because only in America can we do this.
		Only in America can we have this exchange and disagree strongly, but still shake hands when it's done.
		I'm so grateful for this opportunity.
		And for the guys up in Highland Falls, I hope I haven't embarrassed them.
		But I thank all of them and their mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters and wives and husbands because in the end we forget about their sacrifice.
		And I've learned this intimately.
		You don't serve alone.
		You serve with your family.
		And those families are just wonderful.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		It's Frank Luntz, Senior Fellow at the Social Sciences Department of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Thanks so much for joining us.
unidentified		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back.
		We are joined now by Heather Long to talk about the U.S. economy and concerns about an AI bubble.
		She's a columnist and also chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union.
		Heather, welcome.
unidentified		Hi, Mimi.
unidentified		Thanks.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So let's start very generally now.

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